Reprieve came the way of Raymond Dokpesi, Chairman of Daar Communications on Tuesday, as a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the unfreezing of his bank accounts.
His documents, which have been held by the State, should also be returned to him, the court ordered.
Justice John Tsoho, who is the Chief Judge of the court ruled that since the charge that led to the restriction on the accounts had been quashed and the applicants discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal, the restriction could no longer be justified.
He also held that the EFCC had no basis to sustain the post-no-debit order on the accounts since the subsisting and valid order of the Court of Appeal.
The Justice contended that the EFCC did not obtain any order staying the execution of the judgment of the Court of Appeal since it was delivered on April 1.
On the argument by the EFCC that it has lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Justice Tsoho held that the notice of appeal filed at the apex court cannot, in law, stay the execution of the subsisting judgment.
He further argued that the prosecution ought to have obtained an order staying the execution of the judgment.
The Justice contended that his court was bound by law to give effect to the judgment of the appellate court.
Dokpesi’s travails started when the EFCC obtained a court order freezing the accounts and seized his documents as it prosecuted him and his company, Daar Investment and Holdings Limited, before the court.
Dokpesi and Daar were charged with engaging in procurement fraud and breach of public trust, in relation to the N2.1billion they got from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), under Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
The Court of Appeal in Abuja later set aside a November 21, 2018 ruling by Justice John Tsoho, rejecting their no-case submission and ordering Dokpesi and his company to enter a defence.
Giving the lead judgment in the appeal, a unanimous decision of the appellate court’s three-man panel, Justice Elfrieda Williams-Daudu, had declared that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against Dokpesi and his company to warrant their being called upon to enter a defence.
The Court of Appeal then upheld their no-case submission, quashed the charge against them, and discharged and acquitted them.
Subsequently, Dokpesi approached the High Court for an order to compel the EFCC to unfreeze his account and also release his documents that had been in the court’s custody.
